Richard Johns has
been behind the steering wheel of a race car since age nine when he began racing go karts throughout the Southeast United
States. This year, the 26 year-old Lawrenceville, GA native’s passion for speed will take him to the NASCAR Camping World East Series where he
will drive the No.59 Sadler Hamilton Racing.
Johns knows the
opportunity is a rare one given the number of great drivers who have piloted Sadler Hamilton race cars over the past 25 years.
“A lot of
great drivers have had a seat in a Sadler Brothers car,” said Johns. “Both Bobby Hamilton, Sr. and Bobby Hamilton,
Jr. drove their cars. So did Davey Allison, Jeff Green, Sterling Marlin and Jeremy Mayfield. Recently, David Ragan worked
his way into NASCAR Sprint Cup thanks to a ride with Sadler Hamilton. That’s pretty strong company and there’s
a lot of heritage. I’m pretty proud to become a part of that history this season in the NASCAR Camping World East Series.
Hopefully, we’ll be able to make some new history for Sadler-Hamilton Racing.”
Johns’ career
racing resume today consists of more than 1,000 go-kart races (winning more than 25 percent of them) two seasons in the Professional
Auto Truck Racing Series (PARTS), four years in the Southern All-Starts SuperTruck Series, and a season in the Georgia Asphalt
Series and American Speed Association (ASA) Late Model Stock Car ranks.
In 2006, Johns
got his first taste at big-time Stock Car Racing competing in a pair of Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) events with
his best finish – a seventh – coming at Kansas Speedway.
Last year, Johns
joined the NASCAR Busch (now Nationwide) Series wheeling the No. 25 Team Rensi entry in 15 races. His best finish came at
O’Reilly Raceway Park in August where he came home 15th. His season-best finish - a fourth-place effort - came in the
ARCA race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Off the track,
Johns has been just as dedicated to his chosen sport and career working on his own cars, building a number of them from the
ground up. In an effort to expand his racing technical knowledge, John attended the University of North Carolina Charlotte where
he earned a Mechanical Engineering with an emphasis in Motorsports.
Throughout his college experience,
Johns applied his classroom knowledge at Team Rensi Motorsports where he worked as an apprentice engineer. He was promoted
to Head Engineer upon graduation, a position he held until the end of the 2007 season when he earned the opportunity
to drive the No.59 Sadler Hamilton Racing Dodge in the NASCAR Camping World East Series this year.
In his spare time,
Johns, now a Cornelius, NC resident, enjoys playing golf, martial arts, working on and racing his Late Model Stock Car. He
is also active in charity work supporting several causes including Freedom Is Not Free, a group that aids families of wounded
and deceased American military personnel.
For more information about
Richard Johns, please log on to www.richardjohns.com.
